General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf McDonald's doubled their wages but raised prices, would it make you more or less likely to go?
I have to say, I think I would go more often! I'm not a fast-food person, maybe like one or two times a month, but the goodwill generated by a voluntary move to increase wages would definitely make me think better of the place, and make me more inclined to go there.
If enough of us did this, it could turn the fundamental economic concept of pricing and supply/demand on its head!
ejpoeta
(8,933 posts)It's like you forget. Then you eat there and your stomache starts getting sick. I wouldn't feel so bad about going there on the rare occasion that I do.
warrant46
(2,205 posts)From The Urban Dictionary "Gut Bomb"
A usually very tasty super-sized fast food or greasy spoon diner food item that, when ingested, immediately explodes in your gut, decimating your stomach lining. The item usually has a very short (but painful) residence time in your digestive tract before performing a rapid exit to the outside world, and being released back into the wild (e.g., the toilet).
reformist2
(9,841 posts)We all know how gross and greasy it is, but there are some of us who like it from time to time. This thread is about people who go there, not an opportunity to soapbox about how gross it is and how nobody should go there!
ejpoeta
(8,933 posts)that is not a soapbox. that says nothing about anyone else but myself and why i do not go there much now. and why i probably would not go there more if the workers were paid a decent wage.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)Tikki
(14,557 posts)also, can't eat that stuff...
Tikki
liberal N proud
(60,334 posts)Buger King, Chicken for Jesus and all of them do the same thing.
Minimum Wage Hikes Do Not Cause Inflation
One way to assess the threat of inflation posed by a minimum wage hike is to estimate directly how much it could raise businesses costs. This would give us a sense of what the potential impact of a minimum wage hike would be on prices, assuming businesses would pass these costs onto their consumers. Of course, there are other ways firms can adjust, aside from raising prices. For example, employers may experience some labor-cost savings as their higher wages lower turnover rates and motivate greater worker productivity. But for the sake of simplicity, lets assume that firms pass the entire cost increase from a minimum wage hike to consumers.
Past research on how business costs rise with minimum wage hikes indicates that a 10-percent minimum wage hike can be expected to produce a cost increase for the average business of less than one-tenth of one percent of their sales revenue. This cost figure includes three components. First, mandated raises: the raises employers must give their workers to meet the new wage floor. Second, ripple-effect raises: the raises employers give some workers to put their pay rates a bit above the new minimum in order to preserve the same wage hierarchy before and after minimum wage hike. And third, the higher payroll taxes employers must pay on their now-larger wage bill. If the average businesses wanted to completely cover the cost increase from a 10-percent minimum wage hike through higher prices, they would need to raise their prices by less than 0.1 percent.[1]A price increase of this size amounts to marking up a $100 price tag to $100.10.
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/14050-minimum-wage-hikes-do-not-cause-inflation
Kingofalldems
(38,456 posts)I bet they could keep prices the same and still profit.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)DinahMoeHum
(21,786 posts). . .but I am for workers there getting a living wage.
Heard at a fast-food worker's strike:
"Mickey D, what's the deal? Pay me more than a Happy Meal"
kentauros
(29,414 posts)I'll pick the latter every time. The choice for pre-made meals is greater, and especially if you want to go a la carte, and do so in a healthy way. Speed in a grocery store can be as fast as fast food, especially if you know the store and where to go.
And most groceries pay their employees better than fast food establishments
City Lights
(25,171 posts)Nothing they do will change that.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)yet they serve both much better food and charge much less for it.
And no, I can't eat any of their swill as I've lost resistance to the chemicals that they use and it makes me sick.
B2G
(9,766 posts)usGovOwesUs3Trillion
(2,022 posts)Which I consider to be less since their quality is so much better.
B2G
(9,766 posts)usGovOwesUs3Trillion
(2,022 posts)Everything was so fresh, even the fries, it was great!
But now I'm back east with no in-n-out (burgers anyway)
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)In-N-Out charges less than three (although I believe they are raising their price to $3.20.
usGovOwesUs3Trillion
(2,022 posts)Best fast food burgers anywhere.
emsimon33
(3,128 posts)While they have nothing I can eat, I trust their food more than I trust other fast food burger places and I believe that their workers are better compensated than most.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)emsimon33
(3,128 posts)To my knowledge, there is no nutritive value in French fries.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)we have a winner!
Scuba
(53,475 posts)warrprayer
(4,734 posts)peace13
(11,076 posts)reformist2
(9,841 posts)They make great rest areas on long trips, but I'd feel funny using them like that.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... protection, healthcare for their employees, etc. My conscience is clear.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)A Little Weird
(1,754 posts)I know it's healthier to eat home-made food but I often find that I don't have the time or energy and end up getting fast food - especially for lunch. McDonalds is usually my last choice but I would go there more often if they treated their workers better.
edhopper
(33,576 posts)I eat occasionally at Five Guys, which makes real burgers and fries and not chemical factory products like McD.
I think they pay slightly above mim wage.
I would still go there if they paid more and the prices raised 5% (which seems to be the increase needed)
newfie11
(8,159 posts)michreject
(4,378 posts)Or any ff joint.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)I would be more likely to patronize them.
MrSlayer
(22,143 posts)Nor do I eat at any of those places. They sell poison.
rurallib
(62,413 posts)so I doubt it would stop us.
Actually I would probably be more likely to go to a place if I knew they raised prices specifically to raise wages.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)with the exception of McDonald's coffee.
I have never in my life been a regular consumer of fast food, but it has plummeted to never. Nothing's going to change that.
Pelican
(1,156 posts)Also, everyone proclaiming their disdain for fast food reminded me of this fine fellow...
http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/
CHAPEL HILL, NCArea resident Jonathan Green does not own a television, a fact he repeatedly points out to friends, family, and coworkersas well as to his mailman, neighborhood convenience-store clerks, and the man who cleans the hallways in his apartment building. Jonathan Green, who tells as many people as possible that he is "fully weaned off the glass teat."
"I, personally, would rather spend my time doing something useful than watch television," Green told a random woman Monday at the Suds 'N' Duds Laundromat, noticing the establishment's wall-mounted TV. "I don't even own one."
According to Melinda Elkins, a coworker of Green's at The Frame Job, a Chapel Hill picture-frame shop, Green steers the conversation toward television whenever possible, just so he can mention not owning one.
"A few days ago, [store manager] Annette [Haig] was saying her new contacts were bothering her," Elkins said. "The second she said that, I knew Jonathan would pounce. He was like, 'I didn't know you had contacts, Annette. Are your eyes bad? That a shame. I'm really lucky to have almost perfect vision. I'm guessing it's because I don't watch TV. In fact, I don't even own one."
Kingofalldems
(38,456 posts)Pelican
(1,156 posts)What's the deal with that?
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)The food tastes like crap. Until they do something about that, forget it.
warrprayer
(4,734 posts)... this morning. A slight hike in prices wouldn't make much diff in my going there.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)1-Old-Man
(2,667 posts)GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)I almost never go there as it is. Higher prices would be a greater barrier. Face it, lots of folks aren't rich enough to laugh at higher prices.
Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)Double the price and I can go to a sit down place and get a far better burger for the same money. I would rather budget an extra 15 minutes of my time to eat a better burger or the same money.
peace13
(11,076 posts)lynne
(3,118 posts)- and find it convenient to pick one up on the way to work. Right now I'm paying about $5. for it. The salad is something I'd eat elsewhere but I pick it up at McDonald's as it's close to my work and it is within my price range.
It depends on how high the prices go. If they increase by 10%, then no problem. By 25%, then there might be an issue. I have to make sure that whatever I'm buying fits into what I can comfortably spend based on my part-time work hours and there's not much wiggle-room.
At 25% I'd be bringing a sandwich from home. A shame, too, as I enjoy that salad. And the yogurt parfait, too.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)When I go, I usually do coffee and the dollar menu items (I'm a cheapskate), so I'd have no problem paying $1.25 for a McDouble cheeseburger and $1.75 for coffee.
But if the meal you like went from $8 to $10, I can see that adding up over time.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)I guess what I was really wondering was this: If fast-food restaurant ____________ (insert one that you actually go to) were to raise their prices, but also raised the wages of their employees, would the higher prices make you go less, or would the higher wages make you go more?
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)And other restaurants which pays minimal wages.
B2G
(9,766 posts)Doubling your expenses will cause the cost of your product to rise *significantly*.
Their target customer base would not be able to afford it.
uponit7771
(90,336 posts)Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Have an influence on menu items, there are many more items which does not depend on wages to determine. Over the years their prices have increased over the years and there are customers who still frequent the restaurant.
B2G
(9,766 posts)as sudden, sharp increases due to doubling their payroll expense.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)sabbat hunter
(6,829 posts)why would that change. The stuff they serve is crap.
NYC Liberal
(20,136 posts)Increasing wages wouldn't change that.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Greybnk48
(10,168 posts)Then I would go in for an occasional happy meal with my grandson.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)I can only afford two items on Dollar menu, I get a plain mcdouble and small fry, comes to $2.32 here. I would probably just not go if prices went up.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)I'll be in the bathroom just as much.
Champion Jack
(5,378 posts)So no, I wouldn't go there
Orrex
(63,209 posts)The predicatable parade of knee-jerk disgust any time the establishment is mentioned is hugely entertaining.
Ronald McDonald himself could cure cancer and elminate the deficit, and the first reply would be "their food sucks."
This pleases me greatly.
1-Old-Man
(2,667 posts)HarveyDarkey
(9,077 posts)Those are the only times I've been in one in over 20 years.
Pelican
(1,156 posts)Nastiest public bathroom in a restaurant I've seen in America...
mountain grammy
(26,620 posts)45 cents for a three course meal.. burger, fries and shake. That was back in the sixties when the closest McD's was 10 miles out on the highway and most Americans weren't fat. Now, we have corporate fast food on every corner with drive thru's so we don't even have to get out of our cars.
Sometimes I think it's impossible for us to get out from under the thumb of corporate America. People used to get crazy about government fluoridating the water but no concern at all about our corporate fast food nation and how we got here.
jmowreader
(50,557 posts)The reason the Hardees Ripoff Burgers are no longer on the McDonalds menu, is the price. McDs customers didn't want to pay that much for a burger, and anyone who really wanted such a sandwich could and did head to Hardees or Carls Jr.(OTOH, the fake Big Mac Hardees created to retaliate against McD for ripping them off is very good.)
McDonalds used to sell a double cheeseburger on its dollar menu. When food prices went up so did the price of this burger...and it died.
There are mass-market chains (McD and Burger King), midrange chains (Hardees/Carls Jr and Wendys), high-end chains (Five Guys) and casual dining restaurants (the Bennigans-style places). If McD prices itself into the midrange it will die even if it brings its food into the midrange because people expect McD food at McD prices rather than Wendys food in McD wrappers.
I only eat their food about once a month unless they have McRibs so them raising prices wouldn't bother me, but a lot of people would stop going.
If Mc
reformist2
(9,841 posts)I think it should be kept in mind that just because these restaurants make certain actions (e.g., removing an item from the dollar menu) doesn't mean they weren't profitable - it just means they weren't maximizing profits, at least according to their models.
It seems to me that if they would only relax their insistence on maximizing profit, they could do a lot more for both their workers and customers and still maintain a decent profit.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)Especially if it means it goes to their employees. Still, they have to improve their food as well.
Avalux
(35,015 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,823 posts)I haven't eaten at a McDonalds since I was diagnose with Ankylosing Spondylitis in July 2009. There is nothing of core nutritional value or with healing (non toxic no antibiotics whole food) properties on their menu.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)alc
(1,151 posts)At one point I only bought big macs when there was a $2 deal. I recently paid almost $4 but rarely get them any more even though I still like them as much and a long time ago had one for lunch once or twice a week (when they were always under $2).
I've seen a wide range of estimates on price increases and feel pretty confident that both ends are exaggerated (or at lest pulled out of the asses of people with different agendas). There is a lot more to employee cost than hourly rate. So you can't simply divide that by the items sold in an hour. The actual cost depends on many things such as training costs which depends on turnover and on employee efficiency. Will those be better with double wages? Probably yes on both. Definitely yes on both if McDonalds is paying 2x any competitors. Less so if they are still paying the minimum wage and everyone else is too.
HarveyDarkey
(9,077 posts)not about to start now.
GalaxyHunter
(271 posts)If I have to pay more for a shitty burger, I'd rather go to a sit down restaurant and get something that taste good.
AndyA
(16,993 posts)If McDonald's did the right thing and started paying their employees a living wage, I might go more often just to support the company, since they did the right thing.
They really should improve their menu with healthier options--veggie burgers and things like that.
lawwolf
(58 posts)And they have always been spectacular flops. As society changes though, maybe it is time for them to try it again.
AndyA
(16,993 posts)Pay employees a living wage, which will make them happier in their jobs. Customer service will improve, and lots of people who normally don't frequent McDonald's might give it a try.
With that, they could roll out new menu items and perhaps spruce up the restaurants a bit. Healthier choices--and more of them--not just a couple, would be an improvement.
When I think of McDonald's, I think of dirty restaurants, slow service, unhealthy food made with zero care, unhappy employees who are overworked and underpaid...not much incentive to go there.
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)raising prices to enable employees to be paid a doubled wage.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)I rarely go McDs now. But I used to when I worked near one. Free internet got me there. I mostly ate from the dollar menu. I think my total price was just under 5$ for two sandwiches, small fry, and large drink.
It certainly isn't healthy, I could tell when I had eaten more than a couple days in a row there.
But, they only reason I would eat there is cheap food. If I can get a 5$ subway (healthier) why would I pay more or even the same for McDs gut bombs?
Iggo
(47,552 posts)laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)That's what they figure the price raise would be on CNN. 68 cents more.
Although I don't eat Big Macs, they make me sick. But I'll eat a quarter pounder. Or a cheeseburger. And I'd pay a few cents more if it meant living wages for everyone.
Can you believe it? 68 FUCKING CENTS.
BTW - McDonalds is one of the only fast food places I eat at - I had a friend who worked in the meat rendering plant that supplied McDonalds and that's the only fast food place he eats at too - he said they are meticulous with their meat.
But, geez, 68 cents. Not triple the price, not double the price. 68 fucking cents.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)and their food as being "shit" and "McCrap" so nobody here will hear of it. LOL (Which is fine with me since they are clearly a Republican-leaning organization.)
But yeah, I eat there sometimes. I actually like most of their items, though as with others, I can't eat too much of it. I think it has less to do with the hamburger and more to do with whatever it is they put into the buns.
tridim
(45,358 posts)I already stopped going because the prices have more than doubled while wages stagnated.
Brother Buzz
(36,423 posts)Offering a living wage would attract competent employees that could multitask; they could reduce their crew from, say, twenty, to six like the independently owned drive-in two blocks from my house, and they make real milkshakes.
I'll return to McDonald's when they introduce a quality hot dog.
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)no more or less likely, actually.
I avoid the place whenever I can. Maybe eat there two or three times a year, if that.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)but it'd still be McDonald's.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)People who are struggling, though, or who are unemployed - they may answer differently.
But as for me, yes, I would def go more.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)Squinch
(50,949 posts)if they increased wages and prices.
4Q2u2
(1,406 posts)That is the false premise that we have to dismiss. It is not either or. CEO's and top executives want you to think like that so they can continue to enrich themselves at unreasonable levels. Pay can go up without prices going up. Short term profit margin can be scaled back on compensation and pay. The good will it produces should in the long term keep profits flowing for a longer time frame.
Someone also mentioned that this would amount to a 68 cent increase in the Big Mac. I would say most would pay that.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/mcdonalds-ceo-pay_n_3070833.html
ileus
(15,396 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)Morning Dew
(6,539 posts)I wind up at MickeyD's on occasion, it's never my first pick.
This would have been fun as a poll.
DainBramaged
(39,191 posts)which hapens once in a blue moon
MrNJ
(200 posts)If they raised prices, the chance of me eating there will double.
JustFiveMoreMinutes
(2,133 posts)... I am dropping my Sams Club membership and going to Costco.....
reformist2
(9,841 posts)UglyGreed
(7,661 posts)of a Big Mac would go up 68 cents. Even though I can't even stand the smell of the special sauce but it would not stop my wife from buying one. It's a lousy 68 cents, let be real here, I rather have the workers be able to live a decent life and afford a burger at a good hamburger joint themselves.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)fries are obviouly good, the new chicken wraps and the salads are OK. But even in this podunk town I can go to three or four mom and pop joints to get a way better burger.
spin
(17,493 posts)the last time from the greasy food.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)murielm99
(30,738 posts)and the coffee. I have gotten those when someone else drove through. I haven't eaten their food in almost twenty years. I have had Wendy's a couple of times in the last year.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)Buns_of_Fire
(17,175 posts)So long as the parent corporation is getting their monthly license fees and the like, I wouldn't think that they would care much about what the employees of any specific franchise are getting paid.
I'm not defending or deriding McDonald's or their food, I just wonder if they're being blamed for something that perhaps they have no control over.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)As a kid in college, who's always balancing finances, McDonald's sometime was the only fast food I could afford (after Little Caesars) - mostly because it was cheap and I could stock up. What I mean by that is I can hit up a McDonald's, order six or so cheeseburgers and a couple large fries and have it all come in under $10. Then I'd have dinner, maybe a snack later and some lunch for the next day. Not healthy, but when you're on a budget, that isn't a priority.
To put that into context, if I went to Carl's Jr. and just got a combo meal (let's say, Double Western), it'd push $10 with far less food.
I'd keep going, though, because I do like their burgers.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)In practice, there's no McDonalds around my area, and the food is vile anyway
So as a principle, I'm more likely to do business with a buisiness that treats its employers well, but in this specific example, I don't give the place my business anyway
DJ13
(23,671 posts)Most chains sell their marquee 1/4 pound burgers for $3 (+/-), McDonald's sells the Big Mac, which is only two 1/10th of a pound patties, for > $4.
Ingredient costs should make it a lot cheaper than the competition's marquee burgers.
They must be making higher margins than the other chains already.
emsimon33
(3,128 posts)I do support companies that pay a fair wage over those who do not.
However, as a vegan, McDonalds would have to offer a GMO-free alternative (which I would be happy to pay a higher price) in order for me to become a regular: No vegan substitutes made from isolated soy protein, but real whole foods that are NOT GMO! In fact, I would love a fast food alternative that serves such food and I would be willing to pay at least double the regular cost for well paid employees with health insurance (a living wage and good health insurance, even for part-time workers) and real, non-GMO whole healthy food and organic, non-treated with chemicals to increase shelf-life potatoes! We need a Trader Joe's of fast food (I mean FAST and drive through--not Panera).
lawwolf
(58 posts)With the rare exception of when I have a craving for a Big Mac the only time I go there is when I need something cheap and quick because I'm on the run (and their McDouble and Fries fit the bill). If it was no longer cheap compared to other places (Hardees, Burger King) where I think the cheeseburgers are better I would likely go to those other places in those circumstances.
bhikkhu
(10,715 posts)any fast food place that paid a living wage would be a place that I would want to see do well. As it is, I avoid them like the plague.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)item. I'll drink the coffee, if I can find nothing else.
newcriminal
(2,190 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)bluestate10
(10,942 posts)price increases go to salaries and benefits, not into McDonald's profit.
maui902
(108 posts)Historically, the only establishments I've refused to do business with are those that adopt policies that I cannot support, especially those who go public with their support of those policies. Example: my son loves Chick fil A, and we used to go there from time to time, but ever since they took the fairly public stand against gay rights, they've lost my business. But I can't support forcing a business to pay higher than minimum wage for their workers; the focus should be on creating a work force and work environment where businesses have to pay more to attract employees due to market conditions. That's what we've lost over the last three decades.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)The closest I come to is a subway sandwich once and awhile...
kalisto2010
(64 posts)And pay their workers a starting wage of 11.25 per hour? On top of they, they taste a lot better.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)even though to be fair, I cannot stand Mcdonalds burgers.
BainsBane
(53,032 posts)The food is disgusting.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)although they really should pay their employees better. I just don't eat fast food.
Union Scribe
(7,099 posts)I usually don't (I'm fat enough as it is lol) but if they decided to treat their workers with dignity I'm all for rewarding that in language a company can understand: $.
I'd love for what you're talking about to happen, where companies would en masse learn that being fair to their workers is good for their business as well as their employees.